


Shall We Date?

by istillfearkanna



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Predominantly Fluff but there is some PhichiYuu angst, yes im still bad at tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 04:18:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9475316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/istillfearkanna/pseuds/istillfearkanna
Summary: Phichit reflects on his past and present romantic life after Viktor makes a rather scandalous Instagram post.





	

Phichit stared at the photo on his Instagram feed with incredulity. He'd expected a picture of Viktor and Yuuri together, something he could fawn over and add to the Viktuuri tag and his Viktuuri folder, something he could look at to remind him how happy his best friend was, and how sweet their relationship was. Instead, what he got was a very sloppy, even sweaty looking Viktor looming over a peacefully sleeping Yuuri, the two of them sharing the same empty bed.

Oh, and there was a condom wrapper just barely in frame, hiding on the floor where it had missed the tiny trash can.

Phichit's brain stopped working for a moment, proverbial hamster wheel spinning out of control and carrying its temporarily lifeless occupant with it. The wrapper wasn't even necessary for him, really. He knew from personal experience as well as years of observation that Yuuri tended to lapse into short post-coital naps, and the sleepy grin on his face spoke volumes. Still, the barely-visible wrapper meant he wouldn't have to explain as much when he shamelessly spread the photo around the whole internet.

The whole situatiom was deeply amusing. Yuuri was still more or less a stranger to sexual contact. Phichit knew for certain it took weeks to get Yuuri to stop squirming during a cuddle, weeks more to get to a kiss, to share a bed, to do anything remotely sexual, and even so Yuuri had never gone all the way. Perhaps it wasn't surprising that it finally happened, given Viktor was as big a fanboy of Yuuri as Yuuri ever was of him these days. Still, as much as he loved sweet, sweet Viktuuri, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous that he himself wasn't the one to finally break down Yuuri's barriers.

He shook the thought away and his brain resumed normal operation with a wide, even delirious grin. "Viktor, this is just so filthy!" Phichit whispered gleefully. His fingers damn near flew across the keyboard to add as many exclamation points and emojis and hashtags as he could imagine to his comment to make damn well sure it would be seen in every corner of the skating world, even tweeting a link to it for good measure. This was HUGE news, and he was first in line!

The picture blew up in no time at all, and between the waves of commentary from obsessive fans Phichit kept a sharp eye out for his friends. Chris came quickly, of course, with the suggestion of a ménage à trois. Guang-hong was seemingly overwhelmed by the cuteness, and someone named Minami was apparently rather distraught to see Yuuri taken in more ways than one. Even Yuri Plisetsky managed a comment, though the sole purpose was seemingly to have his utter disgust on the record. After a few minutes of giddy celebration, Phichit's phone was ringing. The familiar photo of Vicchan that had once been Yuuri's phone wallpaper appeared alongside Yuuri's name.

* * *

 "Is that your dog, Yuuri? He's soooo cute!"

A teenaged Phichit Chulanont leapt forward to steal Yuuri's phone, though the reserved and, admittedly, awkward boy dodged him just in time. Phichit plummeted to the ground in the locker room with a laugh. "I'm so sorry!" Yuuri stammered as he reached down to help the younger boy up.

"It's my fault! I just get too excited when I see something cute," Phichit said with a mischievous smile as Yuuri helped him to stand. He left unsaid that he was not referring solely to the wallpaper or even Yuuri's adorable phone case. "I want a pet, too. Or a bunch of them. Maybe hamsters or ferrets or something they would actually allow in the dorms."

Yuuri looked surprised to hear that, and Phichit was oh so enamored by the way those beautiful brown eyes widened. "Yes, it's my dog. His name is Vicchan. You're going to school here as well? Celestino said you were only seventeen."

"Yeah! I worked extra hard to graduate early back home so I could come train under Celestino for my senior debut!" Phichit said with a smile that could have illuminated even the darkest room.

"Congratulations," Yuuri said with a slight bow of his head. "Your English is much better than mine was at first."

Phichit waved the compliment away. "I was raised speaking English as well, and I've actually been here for skating camps a few times already, so it's no biggie."

Yuuri seemed confused by the expression but apparently put the meaning together quickly. "I learned some in school, but I was never as good as my friend Yuuko. I guess I picked it up alright."

"Yeah! Your English is great, don't even worry about it," Phichit said, still beaming as he sat next to Yuuri to finish taking off his skates. Yuuri blushed, though whether it was due to the compliment or his proximity Phichit did not know. "We're the only senior men's singles skaters Celestino has this year, huh?"

"Seems like it," Yuuri stammered. He finished drying his hair and stood up to change.

Phichit kind of missed his warmth already. The boy absolutely radiated with it. "We should hang out, then! We're gonna be spending a lot of time together, and school won't start for a while. Where are you staying?"

"I'm still at the dorms," Yuuri explained, and suddenly he was naked, still chatting like it was no big deal. Phichit didn't understand it in the slightest, but he wasn't going to complain when the greatest ass he'd ever had the pleasure of laying his eyes on was right in front of him. Phichit was hardly the type to be overcome with lust, and indeed he was still fairly innocent, but good lord, it was hard to resist staring.

Yuuri seemed to catch on to the younger boy's sudden silence and he turned to look. Phichit mercifully tore his eyes away just in time and returned to his usual smile. Yuuri still seemed utterly oblivious to his own nudity. "O-oh, that's cool. I'm staying in an extended stay right now until I work out housing and stuff with the school. It's pretty cozy I guess."

Yuuri smiled politely and returned to putting his underwear on....mercifully they hugged his ass enough for Phichit to continue feasting. He felt oddly cheap and dirty, but didn't care in the slightest. "The dorms are very nice. It's honestly not too different from my own room back home. I guess that makes sense, considering how small hotels and inns are in Japan."

"You live in a hotel?" Phichit asked, still removing his skates slowly as he examined the lithe yet stocky body in front of him. This boy was beautiful as can be and had the ass of a greek statue, how could he be so shy? Although the nudity thing was kind of contradicting that assessment.

"Oh, it's an onsen. An inn with a hot spring."

"Oh!" Phichit shouted. He hadn't meant to, but the revelation hit him like lightning. "Sorry, it just...well, I was wondering why you were so comfortable changing when you were so shy all day."

"It's a cultural thing, I guess," Yuuri mumbled, suddenly seeming insecure.

"No, no! I didn't mean to make you worry! I promise I didn't mind," Unable to stop, Phichit heard himself add "In fact, I kind of enjoyed the show!"

Yuuri's neck and ears went bright red in a heartbeat. Too cute. He was frozen with his shirt in his hands as he looked over his shoulder at the impulsive young boy on the bench, somehow still removing his skates after all this time. "E-enjoyed?"

Too self-assured and positive to really feel much shame about flirting, if perhaps a little guilty about invading the shy older boy's personal and emotional space in one day, Phichit had the decency to at least feign embarrassment. "Sorry, Yuuri! I just have a weird sense of humor. You'll get used to it, promise!"

Yuuri laughed weakly as he slid his shirt on and turned around (oh god, the underwear were pretty tight there too, and Phichit felt dirty again, but he did not remotely care). "I shared a locker room with Christophe Giacometti, I think I can survive just about anyone."

Phichit gasped and nearly dropped his skate at the mention of his number one skater crush. "You met Christophe Giacometti?! You have to tell me everything."

"Yeah, it was the one and only time I was invited to the GPF series so far," Yuuri said, leaning against the lockers so he could slide into his jeans. Phichit suppressed a sigh as the tight black underwear vanished beneath the denim. He hadn't been this thirsty since Giacometti posed for Sports Illustrated. "I really wanted to meet Viktor Nikiforov, but he was sitting out the series for the Olympics that year...anyway, I didn't medal at all, and they haven't asked me back since."

The hurt in his voice was palpable, the idea that he couldn't qualify ridiculous. Phichit had already seen Yuuri do amazing work in just two sessions of practice. "Is Viktor your favorite skater, then? Giacometti is mine. I love his spirit of competition with Viktor, they just seem like the best friends, too."

Yuuri smiled. "True. Chris was very distraught to not have Viktor around that year. He performed very poorly, by his standards. Which means he of course qualified for the final and got bronze."

They both laughed at that, and Phichit was ecstatic that the handsome older boy seemed to be loosening up more by the second. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to be friends after all. "Well, you have to tell me all about Chris. Let's go get dinner after I finish cleaning up! I know a ramen place nearby, you can tell me all about how terrible it is compared to the real thing."

"You have to do the same for me at a Thai restaurant, then," Yuuri teased. Phichit could barely contain his excitement. He leapt from the bench beaming and barely held back on a hug. "You bet! If we can find one that isn't completely terrible, I'll be so happy!" Yuuri seemed both flustered and amused by Phichit's excitement. "I'll see you outside in a few minutes, okay, Yuuri?" Yuuri nodded with the same quiet little smile. He was too precious for words, and Phichit wanted to eat him alive. The younger skater headed to the showers happier than he had been all day - which was saying something for Phichit - hoping he'd made a "forever and always" friend on his first week in Detroit.

* * *

 The memories washed over Phichit, warming his heart as he smiled down at the still-buzzing phone. He missed Yuuri so much it hurt sometimes. "Yuuri!" Phichit chirped as soon as he answered the call. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Phichit, why?" Was all Yuuri managed to moan.

"Oops," Phichit said, not remotely guilty. "I couldn't help it! My boy popped his cherry. Please, Yuuri, you have to tell me everything! How did this happen?"

"Popped my - ?" Yuuri sighed as he remembered the meaning of the phrase and apparently decided to drop it. "I don't know, really. One second we were ice dancing in the rink after closing time, the next we were stripping each other down in the locker room and...somehow we ended up here."

"Oh, hell no, you are not gonna gloss over the best part. You have to tell me everything!" Yuuri started to glow red, and Phichit relented...somewhat. "Okay, almost everything. We can keep it T-rated."

"I don't know if that's possible, but...I guess he was just really sweet, like always, really tender. But then he told me to give in to my eros, and the next thing I knew I was just tearing at him, literally ripping off his clothes, throwing him to the bed, tying him up with the discarded clothes and..." Yuuri kind of sputtered out and buried his face into the pillow with a groan. "This is so embarrassing!"

"No way! This is super hot! So come on, what did you do?!" Phichit demanded, voice full of mischief.

"Well, I...I tied him down, kissed him everywhere I could reach, teased him a bit...things you told me about or showed me, really, so...thanks?"

Phichit swelled with pride. "I knew it would come in handy!"

"Oh god, if you don't settle down I'll start getting my tips from Chris."

"You still haven't made it clear who boned who, mister."

"Yuuri," Phichit heard Viktor whine from the background. "You were far too rough on me. I won't be able to walk for a week! Remind me to limber up next time."

Yuuri emitted a painful sounding squeal that Phichit barely heard over his own laughter. "Yuuri, I told you! I told you so long ago that when this day came, you'd have to take it slow..."

"This is the absolute worst conversation we've ever had, and I hate you," Yuuri moaned.

"No you don't!" Phichit chirped. "Think how much worse your first time would have been without me. In fact, I think you owe me one. Ask Viktor if I can cuddle up with you two at Worlds!"

Yuuri laughed, the awkwardness starting to lift. "Honestly, I don't even think Viktor would mind. He is hands down the most enthusiastic cuddler in the world. He'd gladly haul us into a warm, snuggly pile of figure skaters."

"What would Plisetsky do?" Phichit giggled.

"Eh, we'd have to trap him on the bottom and keep JJ or Chris away from him, but otherwise I'm willing to bet he'd at least tolerate it," Yuuri laughed.

Phichit was sorely, sorely tempted to take him up on that. He missed cuddling with Yuuri too much. That was the real reason he couldn't stand being alone in Detroit. "I'm so happy for you, Yuuri. If anyone deserved to get their dream guy, it's you."

"Ha, thanks, Phichit," Yuuri said, and there was a note of relief to his voice. Dealing with Yuuri's anxiety for a few years meant that Phichit could usually tell what Yuuri was hung up on at any given time, and it sounded like he'd hit the mark.

"I guess I'll let you get back to handling the fallout, Yuuri," Phichit teased.

"Yeah, thanks again," Yuuri muttered. They said their goodbyes and hung up. Phichit threw himself back on the bed and scrolled through his feed once more. The picture was still blowing up like crazy. The rest of the feed was also full of couples, and he felt Instagram was betraying him. JJ and his fiancée. Chris and that handsome man no one knew. There were also rumors about Otabek having a fling with an unknown Russian skater, and about Emil and Mickey as well, though the thought of Mickey in a relationship was, at best, confusing. Even Seung-Gil had the other Crispino hanging on his every word, unrequited, but still. No love for Phichit. Leo and Guang-hong were together too, of course. They were both in China right now, and they looked so beyond happy to be seeing each other. Guang-hong's cute little flushed nose practically glowed in every picture, and Leo was as stunningly handsome as ever.

Precious as they were, Phichit still resented it a little bit. He'd known Leo for two years before Guang-hong showed up. They flirted a lot when they saw each other at camps or at nationals, and they'd even had a few moments of intimate contact, but nothing ever came of it - mostly because Phichit was more or less with Yuuri at the time. When Guang-hong showed up later and Phichit was 100% single, they hit it off rather well and could have become an item...until the adorable little skater met Leo. Phichit happily pushed them together when he saw how happy they were anyway, because that's who he was: Phichit Chulanont, master matchmaker, never finding his own match. Although...

Phcihit flipped over to a more convenient messenger app. This was such a stupid idea. Fortunately, it was stupid enough that he could play it off as a joke if he had to, and his friends would believe it.

* * *

The sultry face of Viktor Nikiforov greeted a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Phichit as it had every morning for the last eight months. All of the posters being cluttered on Yuuri's side of the room had bothered him, so Phichit made it a point to spread them around in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible on his first day in the dorm. Yuuri was so happy when he saw them (he even did that cute little shimmy-squirmy-thing he did when he was overwhelmed with joy) that Phichit's heart melted at the sight of it. His roommate and bestie was such a sweetheart it was almost deadly.

Ultimately, the gesture had reinforced Yuuri's decision. Rooming with a fellow skater meant he could be more open about his passion, even better that it was someone who understood how much Viktor meant to him. Viktor was to Yuuri as The King and the Skater was to Phichit - and he had his own impressive collection of memorabilia as well, though most of it was in Thailand. Yuuri hadn't seen any of the King and the Skater movies, despite a lifelong love of skating. Phichit was utterly disgusted, and they had a marathon of all the movies, even the terrible spin-offs and home video only sequels, immediately. Phichit didn't think Yuuri liked them much at first, but then Yuuri spent the next two weeks humming "Shall We Skate," and it was more than reward enough for him.

Aghast as Phichit was to discover this beautiful, sweet boy had never even been on a second date, and hardly any firsts, he had tried to set Yuuri up almost half a dozen times now. He'd turned down every guy and girl, though he seemed to appreciate the thought and at least made a couple of friends out of it, including a conservatory student who wanted to write music for his programs and that one touchy girl that Yuuri reduced to tears when she tried to comfort him (an incident that provoked a rather stern lecture). He had a new game plan today, though, and he was sure this one would work out.

Phichit leapt across the room and into a still-drooling Yuuri's bed. "Yuuri!" He sang as he rolled over to face his terminally exhausted, definitely-not-a-morning-person roommate.

"Morning," Yuuri mumbled, not opening his eyes. This was hardly the first time he had been awoken by an overeager, oh-so-definitely-a-morning-person-but-also-an-evening-person-basically-happy-all-the-time roommate.

"Guess what day it is," Phichit chirped.

He rolled around in Yuuri's tiny bed as much as he could, prompting the older boy to grumble as he picked up his phone. He gasped at the date. "It's your birthday already?!"

"It is!" Phichit squealed, and he threw himself into Yuuri for a hug. "I can't believe you remembered!"

Yuuri chuckled nervously and returned the hug. "Of course I did! I, uh, actually have to go get something, now that I think of it. Do you have class today?"

"In theory. I'm getting all my work and notes from classmates so I can take the day off. It's my present from them," Phichit said with a mischievous grin.

"The gift of laziness," Yuuri teased. He slid out of bed (in Phichit's favorite briefs, no less, yet another gift) and got dressed in a hurry. "I'll be back before lunchtime, okay? We've got a new Thai place to criticize."

Phichit stuck out his tongue. They had yet to find one that satisfied his extremely sensitive palate. "So cruel, Yuuri, torturing me on my birthday." Yuuri threw a handful of socks at him in response, then fled the room to avoid reprisal, the cunning bastard. Phichit stayed in Yuuri's bed for a while, enjoying the warmth and the pleasant smell of his roommate. He found himself drifting off to sleep clinging to a pillow, his face buried where Yuuri's had been only moments before.

Jolting awake much later, he briefly fretted about snoozing his birthday away - until he saw a bright red Yuuri sitting on his own bed across the room, looking like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "What's up, Yuuri? Did I sleep that long?"

"Not really. It isn't even eleven yet. I got back ten minutes ago or so," he said, oddly sheepish.

"What were you doing over there on my bed that has you so weird, mister?" Phichit asked, instantly suspicious. "I know I've got a good angle on the sluttiest Viktor poster over there, but you can't be all that captivated by it."

Yuuri somehow grew even redder. "I...well, you just looked kind of adorable sleeping over there in the sunlight, and I took a picture for your Instagram. I was about to send it to you."

"That's so sweet!" Phichit sighed. He sat up and attempted to do something about his bedhead when he heard something squeaking. "What's that sound?"

Yuuri's face returned to a more-or-less normal color. "It's your birthday present!" He said proudly, reaching under the bed to pull out a box. The color returned to his cheeks, albeit less severe than before. "I hope you like it."

It slowly dawned on Phichit that the object in Yuuri's hand was not a box, but a cage. A hamster cage. A hamster cage containing an actual hamster. No, hamsters. "Oh my god Yuuri you didn't!" Phichit shrieked, and he was leaping from bed to bed once again. He was pressed right up against Yuuri, reaching for the cage. There were, in fact, three hamsters inside - one gold, one silver, one bronze, the motif unmistakable.

"I saw them together and I thought it was perfect," Yuuri mumbled, not looking at Phichit and absently poking at the cage. "Now you have your pets you wanted and they can also be a reminder of your goals."

Phichit's heart was breaking, or rapidly expanding, or both, he couldn't quite tell. He ripped the cage out of Yuuri's hand and wrapped it up in a hug, squealing all the while. "Yuuri this is so unbelievably sweet of you! We've gotta name these guys. I'm naming the bronze one Arthur, because of The King and the Skater, obviously."

"I thought for sure you'd save that for the gold one," Yuuri said as he reached in to stroke the first-place hamster's surprisingly shiny fur.

"I have another idea for the gold one. And the silver one is Crissu," he said, teasing Yuuri about his occasionally accented pronunciation, "Because he's always right there behind Viktor, challenging him year after year."

"So the gold one is Vicchan, too?" Yuuri asked, raising an eyebrow.

Phichit laughed. "That's your idol, not mine!"

"So...what are you naming him? Ciao-Ciao?"

"Nope."

"Uh...whatever the king's name is from The King and the Skater?"

"Nope!"

"Well...I don't know what else it could be, if you're going with your skating inspirations..."

Phichit only offered his megawatt smile and lifted the soft golden hamster out of the cage. "No, the only name I can think of to fit this little guy is Yuuri."

The red came back again. It went all the way to Yuuri's ears and Phichit wondered for a moment if Yuuri was about to pass out from blood loss. "Yuuri?" He finally managed to sputter.

"Yeah. Because you're gonna get that GPF gold some day, and you better believe I'll be right behind you," Phichit said with his unshakable confidence, returning the hamster to his brethren.

Yuuri looked like he was about to die. "Phichit..." he whispered, speechless.

"Thank you so much, Yuuri, really," Phichit said softly. "Thank you for the inspiration, and for the second-best gift I ever could have received."

"Second best?!" Yuuri cried. Phichit just grinned.

"The first one is pretty much impossible," he teased. "So don't feel bad."

"Well what is it then?" Yuuri demanded, feigned indignation covering for his legitimately stinging pride.

Phichit moved the hamster cage to the nearby desk. "It's pretty dumb."

"So are you," Yuuri teased. "Tell me! If I can top the hamsters, I'll do it."

"Is that so?"

Yuuri's eyes were almost gleaming with determination. He was taking this as seriously as any competition. "You name it."

"A kiss."

Time stopped for a moment. Yuuri's face froze, still determined, but his eyes wide and confused. Phichit was dimly aware that his hand was resting on top of Yuuri's now, too distracted by his suddenly pounding heart to worry about it. This had been the end goal of his plan all along, but the unbelievably sweet gesture from Yuuri had pushed up the timetable. He was done pretending not to be head over heels for this boy.

Briefly, Phichit wondered if he'd screwed up. Yuuri had most likely never kissed anyone before, not a real kiss anyway. Springing it like this was probably stupid. Phichit started to scramble for an excuse, a way to laugh it off, maybe he could just bolt out the front door before Yuuri could -

"Okay."

"Huh?" Phichit blurted out, still barely holding together his suddenly dissolving confidence.

"What you said," Yuuri muttered. He seemed to be at a loss for words. Phichit saw his shoulders wiggle, though, that adorable little shimmy of affection he'd come to love. It was a rare sight, but to see it today, right now, at this moment, it was too much. He raised a hand to Yuuri's soft cheek, the other surreptitiously seizing his phone, and leaned in, Yuuri's eyes widening with every inch he crossed Their lips touched at last. Phichit slid his hand around to the back of Yuuri's head, entangling his fingers in the soft, dark hair. Through his only-mostly-closed eyes he could see Yuuri still in a state of disbelief, then slowly melt into the kiss, eyelids drooping shut as his mouth opened to it, embracing Phichit with his lips and tongue. It was pretty incredible for a first kiss on Yuuri's part.

As soon as Yuuri's eyes were closed, he struck. A flash and a click emanated from his phone. Yuuri stumbled back out of the kiss, confused as Phichit smirked. "Now that's one hell of a birthday post," he purred. Yuuri scowled and tackled him to the bed with another kiss, and it really was the best present Phichit ever had.

* * *

The message was innocuous enough. "Hey GH, you see the big news about skating's greatest power couple?!"

Phichit set the phone down and waited for his nerves to settle. He was still on phase one of The Plan. If he was going to pull this off he needed to chill out until at least phase three. His phone buzzed three times in rapid succession. "OMG! I KNOW! FACE TIME ME THIS INSTANT?!?!?!?!"

All caps? Guang-hong meant business today. Phichit steadied himself and rested as cutely as possible on his bed before calling them. Guang-hong's sweet little face greeted him with an intense squeal from the confines of his impeccably decorated bedroom. "Phichit!" He whined. "They look so cute together! I'm so jealous!"

Leo, handsome as ever, joined Guang-hong on the bed. "Wow, Ji, way to make your boyfriend feel special."

Guang-hong swatted at him. "You now what I meant! They're just in that sweet little honeymoon phase. It's precious, okay?"

"You two are definitely just as cute," Phichit teased. They smiled at that, and Leo kissed the top of his boyfriend's head as he pulled up close.

"So, what, did you call just to gossip?" Leo asked, giving Guang-hong a squeeze.

"Just gossip nothing, Leo! This is huge news!" Guang-hong spluttered.

"Definitely. I just got off the phone with Yuuri. I have ALL kinds of details," Phichit said, waggling his eyebrows.

Guang-hong gasped. "Why didn't you start with that? Tell us this instant!" Leo rolled his eyes, but Phichit knew he was every bit as eager.

"Well, I'm gonna drop the biggest news first. Viktor Nikiforov, international sex icon, is a total sub."

"You're kidding!" Leo blurted out.

"Ha! I knew you cared," Guang-hong said triumphantly, and he kissed away the grimace that crossed his boyfriend's face. "I can't even imagine him like that! Especially with Yuuri!"

Phichit cackled. "Did you watch the same Eros I did? More importantly, did you see Viktor watch it? The while thing was basically foreplay!"

"Absolutely. I was into it for damn sure," Leo smirked as he ducked under another wild swing from his tiny boyfriend. "Anything else? Might as well get it over with."

"Just to elaborate, then: Yuuri is a big fan of teeth, and Viktor is super into ropes," Phichit purred. Guang-Hong squealed and buried his face into Leo's side, mumbling something unintelligible.

"I think you broke poor Ji," Leo joked, quietly petting his incapacitated boyfriend. "Yeah, I can definitely see that first one. But Viktor getting tied down, that's...wow."

A furiously red Guang-Hong emerged from his hiding place. "More! More! More!"

Phichit laughed. "I saved the best for last. So, top secret Yuuri Katsuki trivia, but he's pretty decisively...gifted, in the downstairs delartment, if you catch my drift," and the two of them turning furiously red indicated that they did, "But apparently he totally ignored my advice and rode Viktor so mercilessly that the Living Legend couldn't even walk straight to the shower."

Giggles began to pour out of an utterly defenseless Guang-Hong, who rolled out of the bed with an audible thud. A concerned Leo briefly looked over to check on him only to roll his eyes at the display. "Yeah, you totally broke him. Gotta say, I never, ever would guessed Yuuri would be packing that kind of heat. Is that all you got?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Phichit grinned. "So, what do you think about the whole deal? Aside from how cute it is."

"I kinda just wonder how it even started," Leo asked, shaking his head with an amused smile as his boyfriend clambered back into his arms.

"How else would it start with those two? Apparently they had some kind of extended foreplay going during practice and they were totally handsy all the way home," Phichit answered, smiling and shaking his head all the while.

Guang-Hong was positively glowing. "Wow. I guess that's why they're skating's power couple, huh?"

Leo pulled him in tighter. "Well then, if we're gonna beat them, I'll just have to love you twice as hard."

Phase two time. Phichit took a deep breath as his friends wrestled around on the silky pink sheets. "Or, you know, you could beat them at their own game by forming a skating power _trio_..."

They both stopped rolling around. Phichit was reliving that moment of panic from the dorm room so, so long ago as they slowly turned to look at him. As he saw the reality of his suggestion dawn on them, he reminded himself that back then his plan had worked out better than he could have imagined...no reason this one woudn't, right?

* * *

 The best thing about the growing intimacy of their relationship was waking up in a tangled pile of limbs in the morning. Coming from a tropical nation, Detroit was cold to him even in the summer, but the winter was unbearable. Mercifully he was usually traveling for competitions around that time, but when he wasn't, boy was he ever grateful for Yuuri's incredible warmth.

It was even better that Yuuri wasn't competing this winter, opting to focus on grades for the moment, because that meant he had developed the tiniest layer of off-season blubber, and slightly chubby Yuuri was definitely Phichit's favorite Yuuri. He loved the increase in both softness and warmth more than he could ever hope to express. Since he almost always woke up before Yuuri in the mornings, he often had the pleasure of resting right on Yuuri's soft yet still shapely stomach for several precious minutes.

Though they had made significant progress, Phichit still ached for more. They had slowly progressed from kissing to cuddling to extremely passionate makeouts (and good god did Phichit just want to crawl all over him when they got into it, he was just too precious for this world) but honestly, Phichit really wanted to get the boy naked again. He didn't expect to go all the way anytime soon, if ever, but...he honestly kind of wanted to lose himself in Yuuri's body. Lying on Yuuri's stomach, tracing lazy circles in his treasure trail, Phichit found the urge for mischief rising and he pushed down the blanket ever-so-sightly until his hand was resting just barely above Yuuri's fairly low waistband. Lingering just above the forbidden zone was so tantalizing, so...naughty. He enjoyed the warmth and felt the hunger and lust growing in his chest, though he refused to press any farther and jeopardize this beautiful thing they had going.

"Phichito-kun," Yuuri muttered, and he froze at the sound of his name, fearing he had perhaps gone too far. But then there was a mighty twitch, something brushing against his hand, and a shudder from Yuuri. Phichit cautiously raised his head, but it seemed like Yuuri was still asleep. Shame. That had seemed...promising. Although, if he was muttering Phichit's name, maybe these apparently very exciting dreams weren't about Viktor for once.

Oh, this was too much. Phichit all but leapt for Yuuri's sweet lips, leaving his hand adamantly in place. It was considerably more passionate than his usual "time for practice, dummy" kiss as Phichit was just barely fighting back lust. Yuuri's lips responded immediately, something Phichit was not remotely expecting. "Good morning, handsome," Phichit purred as he hovered just above Yuuri's sleepy face.

"I was having a really good dream," Yuuri pouted.

"I kinda figured," Phichit teased, and he couldn't help a downward glance.

Yuuri followed his eyes and his entire body seemed to flush. "Oh no...Phichit, I, uh...wait why is your hand so close to..."

"I woke up like this?" Phichit offered innocently.

Yuuri seemed unconvinced, and Phichit started to pull away...only to have Yuuri's hand come down on his wrist. "I didn't say stop," Yuuri whispered. That was all Phichit needed to hear as he simultaneously dove in for another steamy kiss and plunged his hand beneath Yuuri's waistband. He broke the kiss and hovered over a gasping, moaning, even whimpering Yuuri as Phichit maintained his grip in Yuuri's nether regions.

"Are you sure you're ready for this? I promise I won't go any farther than you want."

Seemingly unable to speak, Yuuri instead wrapped his arms around Phichit and pulled him in closer, forcing their hips together. Phichit had to move his hand, but, given that meant he had a handful of the hindquarters that haunted his dreams and they were directly grinding into each other, it was hardly a downside.

"Finally, thank god," Phichit moaned, and he dove in for the longest kiss of his life.

* * *

 Getting his ass to China was a lot simpler than Phichit feared. As Celestino's prize student, it was easy to coax him into a couple weeks at a new rink under the guise of a "brief change of venue." He managed some legal gymnastics as well with Viktor's help, leveraging his sports visa as far as he possibly could. Scraping money together was easy after that. Once it was all said and done, Phichit was sitting at a table, in a restaurant at the heart of Beijing, sitting across from two of his closest (and cutest) friends.

At long last, it was time for phase three. He still couldn't quite believe the other boys had been so...receptive to the idea. They weren't exactly jumping for joy, maybe, but they had both taken a moment to process and decided together, without a word passed between them, that they honestly wanted to give it a shot. Phichit was ecstatic, but he contained himself enough to offer a brilliant smile instead of the ecstatic squeal his heart wanted. In truth, Phichit had been almost aching with loneliness for a year now. Life without Yuuri was hard, especially with the way things had changed so suddenly between them after Sochi. With Yuuri gone, going back to his family was the only way Phichit could manage to keep a smile on his face. Even then, he missed the calm, quiet intimacy of their friendship.

It was probably for the best that he hadn't wound up rebounding with Leo or Guang-hong afterwards. They might not have gotten together at all, or have wanted to try this idea of his if they did. Setting them up was starting to look more and more like a long term investment turning in his favor. Besides, he didn't know anyone as adorable and sweet as Guang-hong, or as handsome and effortlessly cool as Leo. Not to mention that Phichit knew how goddamn precious he was himself. The three of them together would be a force to be reckoned with.

Guang-hong was first to speak once they were seated, nearly bursting at the seams with excitement. "Phichit! This is so cool, I can't believe you were able to get here so quickly!"

Phichit and Leo shared a glance and a laugh. "I was excited! And let's be real, Ciao-Ciao is a total pushover."

"We're gonna have to make sure this is worth it, then," Leo said with a wink. Guang-hong's stomach growled audibly. "Just so you know, after we decided to go out, it took about an hour of debate for us to pick a restaurant."

"Sounds intense," Phichit said, smiling.

"This little princess is unbelievably picky about hot pot, so that was basically off the table - "

"Excuse me Leo! I am not a princess! I'm a big strong man!" Guang-hong huffed rather adorably.

" - so we finally settled on this place. And Ji, if you want me to call you a big strong man, you're gonna have to out-wrestle me at least once," Leo teased.

"Bring it on!" The tiny boy growled as he bared his finely-manicured nails like claws. Phichit burst into laughter.

"I can't even with you two. Let's go get food already! I'm starving." The place was fairly ritzy for a buffet, certainly far above the standards of any trashy American chain he'd been to. He sure as hell wouldn't be taking a chance on buffet crab from a shabby little Chinese joint back home, that's for sure. He sped back to the table, eager to get through the night and prove himself as datable as possible. Leo was already back by the time Phichit returned. They chatted about the upcoming Four Continents as Guang-hong returned with a fully loaded plate...then returned to the buffet, only to come back with another plate. That happened three more times before he settled in.

Phichit stared, transfixed, as this tiny, tiny precious individual started shoveling food into his mouth like he'd been born in a cave. Leo continued to eat normally, utterly unfazed. "Yeah, he always does that. If it bothers you I recommend headphones."

"Oh it doesn't bother me," Phichit said, still staring. "It's just...fascinating."

"You better start eating or he'll move onto your plate soon. He does that sometimes," Leo said, grinning at Guang-hong with deep, sincere affection. "So Phichit, where did this idea of yours come from?"

Phichit smiled and returned to his food. "I don't really know. I was sitting there thinking about how happy Yuuri was and how happy you two are, and I guess...well, you know how you and I flirted for like, two years straight? And by straight I mean in a homosexually-consecutive fashion."

Guang-hong gasped and choked down a mouthful of rice. "Leo, you never told me! It must have been pretty bad..."

"I thought you knew," Leo chuckled. "You were there with us in Juniors for at least a couple of events. You had to have seen us. It wasn't exactly subtle."

"Ah, you know how sweet and innocent he was. Is? He probably never even thought about it," Phichit teased.

"Sweet and innocent nothing! Leo doesn't know about he backstory behind our famous selfie, either," Guang-hong said triumphantly.

"Oh really?" Leo asked, giving Phichit a look of feigned indignation.

"Yeah, that was the other reason I thought of it," Phichit's face curled into a wicked grin. "What, you didn't notice our lips were a bit more, ah, full and moist than usual?"

Guang-hong giggled at the look on Leo's face. "I thought it was just the makeup."

"Partially, yeah. But it was his make up. He put too much on and I may have helped him remove it," Phichit said mysteriously.

"There was also lots of nibbling," Guang-hong whispered at a still bewildered Leo.

"Well now I'm jealous!" Leo huffed. "Two years of flirting and I never got one kiss, but you two make out like right after you meet?!"

Phichit joined in the giggling. He couldn't help it. Leo's legitimate indignation was way too cute, and more than a little sexy. "I was with Yuuri for most of it! He would have been miserable."

"You were never really official with him," Leo said pointedly. "Besides, we flirted before that!"

"You should have struck while the iron was hot then. And the iron was very, _very_ hot, by the way," Phichit said, leaning towards the both of them and winking.

"How about now?" Guang-hong asked mischievously through yet another mouthful, prompting a swat from a disgusted Leo.

"Pretty hot. Talking with your mouth full is cooling it rather quickly though," Phichit quipped.

Guang-hong stuck a rice-covered tongue out at him. Leo simply groaned and returned to his own plate. "Yeah, I guess I never thought about how close you were to dating both of us. I can't decide if it's weird or cool."

"Come on Leo, this is me we're talking about," Phichit said, leaning back into a Cool Guy pose.

Leo rolled his eyes. "So, weird."

"No, both!" Guang-hong insisted.

"Sure, I'll go with that one," Phichit sighed dramatically. "But yeah, other than us just being great friends and having that history together...I don't know, we're just all super cute, aren't we? The three of us together would be unstoppable."

"Hey, we're not cute!" They both objected in unison.

"I prefer 'devastatingly handsome,' thank you very much," Leo purred.

"And I'm definitely the sexy one," Guang-hong said with a pout as the others laughed hysterically. "Aw, come on guys! Being an assassin is totally sexy..."

"Okay, okay," Phichit conceded. "Credit where it's due, yes, your free skate costume is really sexy, as is your 'assassin voice.' And Leo is devastatingly handsome for damn sure."

Guang-hong hummed in agreement as Leo beamed. His teeth were so damn white Phichit thought he might go blind from the sheer brilliance of them. Leo's was the only smile who could ever compete with his own trademark thousand-watt grin. "Yeah, you're definitely cute though. Like, too cute to be real. Especially your moves. I've never seen someone skate so powerfully but also adorably. My heart was honestly pounding through both of your programs."

Phichit, for once, found himself blushing. Leo had always been forward, but that was the most legitimate compliment he had ever given. "Wow, thanks, Leo," he said into his food.

"Yeah, you can ask Leo, I was basically melting into him during your free skate," Guang-hong chirped, setting yet another plate to the side. "I just love your costumes so much! Especially the tight pants in your short program costume...just saying."

Phichit felt his face grow even warmer. Guang-hong had been eyeballing him all along? To think he'd been getting the love he wanted from the two friends he helped to set up. "Wow. So...no wonder you guys agreed to this without thinking about it for long."

"Oh, we thought about it," Leo said with unmistakable confidence. "Hell, we talked about it on our first date."

"Yeah, we both thought we were going out with you that night, so we were confused. Once we decided to go out again, we started talking about you and wondered if we could maybe give it a shot but," Guang-hong shrugged. "It just seemed crazy to ask."

"Go figure you'd be the one to bring it up. That's why we were so quiet at first. We never expected you to ask something like that," Leo said with a sly wink.

Phichit was absolutely floored. "So you mean to tell me we could have been dating for like two months before those two losers stole our limelight?"

"Yeah, probably," they said in unison. "I mean, I have no idea how to make something like that work, but with you I think we could try," Leo finished, smiling broadly as Guang-hong inhaled another mouthful and nodded.

"This is literally the best news I've had since Yuuri got engaged," Phichit said quietly, in awe of how well it was going. Phase three was a resounding success.

* * *

 "Phichit, what are we, exactly?" Yuuri asked quietly from where he sat on the airport bench, under Phichit's arm.

"What kind of question is that?" Phichit chuckled. "You're my best friend, literally ever, and I have lots of friends to choose from."

"What about all the other stuff we do, though?" Yuuri pressed. He was hiding his eyes, a huge warning sign for Phichit. "Not to mention all the #boyfriendgoals pictures on your Instagram..."

"Well, you can be both," Phichit offered. He immediately sensed it was the wrong move, but couldn't think of a follow up.

"You know you've never actually say we're boyfriends? Out loud? You only ever qualify our relationships in hashtags."

In any other context, that would be teasing, but Yuuri was gearing up for a borderline anxiety attack. Phichit flew into mama hen mode immediately. "If I confused you, I'm sorry, Yuuri, I really am. I love you, okay?"

"Are you just saying that?"

"No!" Phichit pulled himself closer on the bench, as though holding Yuuri would crush his growing fear. This was starting to feel serious. Phichit was not great at handling serious.

"Then how do you love me? Is it platonic or romantic?"

Definitely serious. Phichit steadied himself for an answer. "I don't know if I can qualify it, Yuuri. I love you in a way I don't love anyone else. Is that good enough?"

Yuuri relaxed very, very slightly. "I could say the same. I just...I want to hear you say it. Say 'yes, Yuuri, you are my boyfriend.' Is that...crazy?"

"Of course not," Phichit said soothingly. "I guess I just don't really get hung up on labels. But I can see why other people do."

"You still haven't said it."

He tried. He tried desperately to force out the sentence, and he couldn't. The label wouldn't stick, it was somehow both insufficient and too much to describe their relationship. "I can't," he whispered, unable to lie, and he felt Yuuri slump.

"I don't want something casual, Phichit. I can't separate physical affection from commitment like you can. If I'm going to be intimate with you, I need to know we're going somewhere."

"Where is this coming from, Yuuri? We've been together a good while now and you seemed so happy," Phichit said sadly, wistfully. "I know I've been happy."

There was a long silence before Yuuri sat up, his walls firmly back in place and higher than ever. "You know what, I think it's just the finals getting to me. I'm sorry. I shouldn't take it out on you."

Phichit smiled, but it wasn't the full force grin he usually had on. "I think you're right, though, Yuuri. I haven't been taking this as seriously as I should, it's a bad habit of mine. I don't know, I just love our friendship so much, I was afraid getting too serious would mean we could never come back."

The walls crumbled a tiny bit, and Phichit saw Yuuri's eyes shining dangerously for a moment, on the brink of tears. "I think I understand. We can stay like that. Best friends, forever and always."

"But only if we stop fooling around," Phichit finished, heavy hearted. Yuuri offered the tiniest of apologetic smiles and a nod. "I mean, it's not just fooling around for me Yuuri. I really love being with you."

"I love it too, Phichit. But it's just how I am. All or nothing in everything from sports to relationships, apparently."

"I don't know what to say, Yuuri. I want to stay your best friend. But I still want to be with you, too," Phichit whispered, feeling like he was about to tear up any second. Why was this so hard? Serious talk was the worst. He would give anything to be back in their apartment right now watching corny musicals and cuddling with the hamsters.

"You don't have to decide now, I'll be back in a couple of weeks," Yuuri said with a comforting smile and a reassuring arm.

"I don't want it hanging over you during the final, though!"

"You know what, it might even inspire me," Yuuri teased. "Knowing that when I come home I'll have not only achieved my dream of sharing the ice with my idol, but that I've also got a solid relationship to come back to, whatever the kind."

"Not to mention a big, shiny gold medal!" Phichit said, beaming again. Yuuri laughed weakly, as uncertain of himself as ever. "I mean it, Yuuri. I've been so happy to see you realize your potential this season. You better believe I'm coming for you next year, too."

Yuuri responded with a determined stare and a surprisingly confident smile. "I'd be offended if you didn't."

"Oh, one more thing!" Phichit pulled a tiny, struggling hamster out of his pocket. "Mini-Yuuri wanted to wish you luck before you went. And I wanted to remind you to keep your eyes on the prize," he said, stroking the soft golden fur.

Yuuri's eyes finally watered up, and Phichit couldn't help but do the same. They fell into each other, hugging and crying and laughing as mini-Yuuri climbed around their shoulders and on top of their heads, confused by his new surroundings. "I think I have to go," Yuuri said, glancing nervously at the clock and wiping his face. "Thank you for everything, Phichit."

Phichit held mini-Yuuri up and gave the real Yuuri a hamster-peck on the cheek, then gave Yuuri a chaste kiss of his own on the lips. "I believe in you Yuuri. You're Japan's Ace. You can knock 'em dead, I'd bet little Yuuri on it."

"Please don't. What would I do without my good luck charm?" Yuuri stood, and Phichit followed suit, collapsing into another hug.

"I'll see you soon," Phichit whispered, and Yuuri laugh-sobbed into his shoulder. He broke away with a smile and ran off to where Celestino was waiting at the check-in counter. Phichit had already made up his mind as he watched Yuuri's disappearing back. He was going to start taking his relationships seriously or die in the attempt. The instant Yuuri was home, glowing with the pride of accomplishing his dream and wearing his gold medal, Phichit was going to drag him up to the roof of the skating rink and scream "THIS IS MY GODDAMN BOYFRIEND" to the whole of Detroit. He never wanted Yuuri to doubt him again.

Still, in his heart of hearts, Phichit knew that the guiding principle of his life would hold true: between them, everything would be okay, forever and always, no matter what.

* * *

 The trio of giddy skaters wound their way back to the hotel, still chatting about the season and about how utterly shameless Viktor was with his pictures (as if Phichit could talk). They had to stop occasionally for Guang-hong's stomach cramps, because he had, of course, overindulged. They arrived at Phichit's door far sooner than he would have liked. "You're gonna hang out with us after practice tomorrow, right?" Leo demanded.

Phichit beamed. "Of course! What should we do? I can't afford to eat out every night."

"We can go to Ji's place. You would not believe how soft those frilly sheets of his are."

"It's surprisingly spacious, too," Guang-hong added innocently.

"Subtle, guys," Phichit teased.

"I just want cuddles, is that so much to ask?" Guang-hong pouted.

Leo shook his head. "Your teddies are gonna get even more jealous."

"As if! They're joining in."

"I wish I'd brought my hamsters. They love cuddle piles. We haven't had one since..." Phichit shuffled nervously. "...since Detroit."

Leo and Guang-hong cast mischievous sideways glances at each other. "Well then, I guess we'll see you tomorrow, right?" Leo asked, all innocence and sunshine.

"You bet!" Phichit said, straightening up again and shaking off the doldrums.

"Can't wait," Guang-hong chirped, and then suddenly they were both leaning towards a stunned Phichit, one on each cheek, leaving behind a warm, moist spot for him to remember them by (especially Guang-hong, who was almost certainly wearing some variety of lipstick). "Goodnight!"

"Yeah, sweet dreams," Leo added with a wink as he threw an arm around Guang-hong's shoulder. They walked off together cackling, leaving a confused and excited Phichit leaning against the door with his heart utterly pounding in his chest.

Later, in bed, he squeezed himself between his pillows and buried his face in one, wishing he'd had the boys lie on it for a moment to capture their scent. As he drifted off, Phichit found his heart opening up again in a way he hadn't felt for two years. One thing was for sure: he couldn't wait to tell Yuuri about this one. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a sucker for cute triads and I apologize for nothing.


End file.
